Hump Day

Today is Wednesday! Wednesday is an Ahhhhhh (let the tongue flicking ensue). Now is everybody happy? You betchya ass we're happy! Dnunuh nuh nuh Nuh nuh nuh nuh!

Ok now that I've gotten that out of my system...can I just say how frickin' excited I am about Saturday's game? Well I am. A lot.

Now on another subject...Stanford recently contacted us about playing a game against their b-side, they'll host or travel. Sweet news eh? And we actually have a real match scheduler now so it might actually happen.

Quick rugby update

It's been a rough week. I've been experiencing shin splints since the cal game and quite frankly it sucks. On Friday I had a frustrating practice where my arches refused to cooperate and my shoulder was feeling dodgy. But I gutted it through despite getting a bit of sarcasm from my coach. It was, however, difficult to just tough it out when we had an oversized greek choir of non-participants at practice. I'm all for injured players showing up and supporting/learning at practice but some of them need to freaking butch up a little and a few others who were practicing really should have given it a rest (she has bruised ribs, a slightly torn rotator cuff, and a broken toe for shit sake).

I sound like a broken record but I really feel we need less fitness and more rugby at this point in the ballgame. Hopefully practice this week will reflect said shift towards the practical as this week is our last before our first league game versus San Jose. They're always a tough team and it's an away game...I'm not sure if our team is in the right mindset yet...this isn't some pre-season friendly...this is LEAGUE. San Jo is a serious team with big players and they know how to win while our team can't focus up enough to go through a line of hands without dropping the ball and staring at how pretty it looks in the mud.

Wednesday was a pretty good practice and we got our new shorts. I'll admit I'm kinda disappointed, they're stretchy Kooga shorts but we were assured that they would have reinforcing tape...which they lack. Our first lineout with them nearly resulted in a dropped jumper. So we're kind of in a muck over whether to buy lifter shorts for our jumpers or just to have them wear some old shorts (this is complicated by the fact some weird kids actually care about uniformity and our lack of a solid lineout plan). I also did some lifting, this was the first serious lifting I've done...pretty much ever. An odd experience for a hooker but I know it's good for me despite all the protesting my jammed thumbs and fractured fingers might have felt at the time. I have a sinking feeling that my coach is going to shove me in at prop if I don't get fit soon or if our pack doesn't settle down. I'm going to personally start kicking some ass if this happens. But really? I'll play anything...I'm just a hooker at heart.

Saturday we had a friggin trail run. I was not pleased being the only front row to show up and running with a bunch of relatively fit locks and wings through damp forest razor-backs. If my arches, ankles, and shins weren't bothering me enough, spending my Saturday morning slipping around on moss trails like a rampaging elephant after a pack of long legged cross-country runners was a sure way to further kick in my morale. To add insult to injury, my gf with her sprained ankle was able to keep up with my fat ass. Once my body got over the harsh kick of running up a mountain it was actually an enjoyable run with brisk fog, luscious green clovers, and the comforting scent of the redwoods (or at least as enjoyable as an hour long trail run broken up by push ups and planks could possibly be for a front row). By the end of the run I finally caught up with my fly-half (ha! bitched!). I suppose it was worth it, it reminded me that I need to get in shape and that I should do it on my own terms so team attempts at fitness are less painful.

So this post is running kind of long so I'll leave a few things for next time..but one last thing. I'm thinking of getting a scrum cap so I can still play after I turn 23. I'm looking for suggestions for the cheapest...best scrum cap that a gal can get. I've got a little azn faux-hawk going on so I don't need space for a pony-tail or anything like that. I just need to protect my noggin from opposing tight-heads getting a little contact happy in a scrum. I'm thinking of getting a random Canterbury one.

Well anyhoo I guess that's it. I'll blather more later.

Santa Clara!

So just a quick snippet. Our league game against Santa Clara has been put off 'till later (or most likely will be). For some reason we're getting kit bags...kinda ridiculous considering we still don't have jerseys.

WE STILL DON'T HAVE JERSEYS.

God...such the motley crew....I dunno, I'm not a fan of kit bags or matching shit but I guess when I play for a club side I'll be glad to show off some slug pride.

Speaking of pride, Belmont Shore showed their stuff at the Stanford Invitational and held out against some high caliber teams.

I'll admit I'm a bit concerned about our teams readiness. But meh. On a side note I'm thinking about picking up a scrum cap...no more concussions.


Speaking of concussions..I definitely forgot to mention that I added a site counter. Shiny. I have exactly four readers. Woot. While this makes me happy I can't help but notice the fact that my best friend is forgetting to check up on my blog. Shame on you Joseph Edward Armstrong King III.

Pelican Refs

I completely forgot about ref reports...our cal game didn't get one but here is our Davis summ...I guess I was wrong about the scores:

UC Santa Cruz women 22 – UC DAVIS 29 Referee: Bjorn Stumer
A beautiful day at the gorgeous Slugs Rugby pitch, above Santa Cruz & Monterey Bay, saw two determined and closely matched sides come together for a fine day of rugby.

A not yet in form UC Santa Cruz women's side hosted a determined UC Davis team who gave their hosts a run for their money, finally winning the match 29 to 22. As the score reveals, this was a high scoring affair with plenty of running, mauling, and aggressive forward play.

Santa Cruz had the forwards, but Davis had the runners. The three thirty minutes periods culminated in a last one with two superb tries, one from one side of the pitch to the other, and another aided by a gust of wind from the 22s.

A great day for all involved, including the numerous supporters. A bit scrappy here and there, but Santa Cruz had moments of brilliance reflecting their status as Division 2 National Champions. However Davis gave all it had and more. A great match and a great day.

Lots of Bruises

The annual Berkeley/UCSC camp/scrimmage went pretty smoothly. As always, the weather was possessed and tried to kill us all. This time we had multiple ice patches on the field as well as mud ice and frosty grass. This is California mind you...and I was raised in SoCal. In my part of Los Angeles we have sunny skies yearlong and maybe one week of rain. So this ice shit was a shock, I still have shin splints from the game. We held Berkeley's B/A side to five or ten points...basically the same scoreboard as last week. We only had one vet back so our backline wasn't looking pretty. Our forwards were looking shaky as well with a number of rookies playing new positions (I nearly died having a BRAND new prop and lock on the same side). A number of people picked up some light injuries...but nothing too serious I hope. I played the shittiest game of my life...walking the majority of it and taking bad knocks in rucks etc. Still, I did a decent job at hook and made a nice 20m run for a try (I sidestepped two backs and shoulder checked the fullback) which I'm kinda proud of. Ellen really is doing a great job with Cal, all of her players are solid tacklers and great all around ruggers. It was cool seeing local collegiate legends like Street and Chou and getting advice from them at the camp. Their tighthead was doing a fabulous job nailing me in the temple (and effectively taking me out of the scrum)...I just wish we had had an experienced loosehead to combat that because frankly I could have skipped on the concussion. I missed the Stanford Women's Sr. Side Invitational because I didn't trust myself to drive the 17 while feeling looser then a goose's feathers. We're probably going to miss the Stanford Collegiate Invitational too because we all need a week off. I'm still not thrilled with this emphasis on conditioning over general rugby knowledge. Especially considering we have two weeks until our first league games and our backs don't even know plays. (Kinda scary when the hooker knows the backline plays before the backs).

On a more personal note I'm bummed 'cause our lifters dropped my gf on a lift and she sprained her ankle so she'll be out for a few weeks. I'm doing decent in school and feel semi on top of my stuff. Lastly, I picked up a road bike for twenty bucks and I'm like a little kid in a candy store stripping and cleaning its parts (I've ridden it whenever I've found an excuse). But anyhoo....back to reading.

So you might not have noticed...

But yea my enthusiasm for rugby/this blog kinda was at an all time low over break. I didn't work out, I didn't really keep up with the rookies...and I wasn't gushing about the fifty million different aspects of the game that I love like I normally do. This is mainly because I was barred from my school and was dealing with re-arranging my life to cope with complete and utter financial independence from my family when they disowned me. Most of my break was spent figuring out how I could work full time and take the proper classes at a community college to ensure readmission in fall. Probably the most heartbreaking thing was when my gf mentioned that all she wanted for Christmas was to play a match with me again (she's a flanker/8/lock and I'm a hooker). I got back to school early in order to seal up my appeal letter and do all that I could to convince my provost to give me one last quarter to improve my grades. Although it pained me to do so I continued to show up for practice in order to help coach and motivate the rookies and teammates that my life had come to revolve around. It was killing me that just as I was starting to really mature as a player (other teams coaches were consistently coming up to my coach and complementing my play) my career would have to go on such a long and possibly permanent hiatus.

BUT LUCKILY MY APPEAL WENT THROUGH! BITCHED! HA!

So I'm technically supposed to take the quarter off rugby...nothing says that it's a requirement...mwahahaaaa and I am taking 12 credits.........and all I have to do is pull off C's....

SO FUCKYEA I'm playing this quarter! Time to rock this league!

We've got a training camp with Berkeley this weekend probably up at Treasure Island, I'll update more info when I get it. Belmont Shore is going up to play FOG and Berkeley at Steuber Stadium. I'm going to try and come out and support them on Sunday.

I still have a keg in my courtyard from the social and I intend to take my lady out for a nice steak meal tonight. I guess the moral of the story is for us college athletes to remember that we're students first. But really?? Who cares man...as long as I know my beb'll be there to give me a hand up and a kiss the next time there's a collapsed scrum.

-Kerrie
the Number 1 Number 2 of the Number 1 Division 2 Collegiate team in the nation!

UC Davis vs UCSC 27-22

Yesterday morning we played three thirty minute halves against UC Davis who ended the day victorious. Overall I was pretty thrilled by our performance against the Aggies as an out of shape D2 team shouldn't expect such an even scoreboard against a team so dominant at Scrum By the Sea (Davis did damn well against UCSD). Our lock Amara Reddick came back and had a great game. Our pack wasn't stellar and we did get an injury (one of our rookie locks broke/displaced her tibia). I propped for a third and a half and did a fair job. Our back row made great runs but our rucking was poor all over. Our backs rarely got the ball due to our poor platforms (we were losing our own scrums and lineouts) but this was mostly a result of rookies playing new positions. One of our vet wings, Tahli, scored two great individual tries and one of their backs pulled off an incredible pop kick to herself for a try. I ran in a few good carries myself but my favorite involved a quick tap pop that had me going into a Davis wall with the net outcome of me placing the ball well but losing my shorts in the subsequent ruck. Not only were my boxers already ripped to the point of loincloth but now they were flapping around my hips as I got to crawl back into the ruck to retrieve my shorts and put them back on not five feet from the sideline (and around 50 spectators). But good stuff, I love playing against Davis, they're a big fun competitive team that plays clean...what more can a DII team ask from our more organized DI sisters?

So my lock is back

and I'm happy as all shit. Not only is she an amazing person but she also knows basic forward skills (ykno that stuff that I lack). Well our rookies aren't looking too out of shape. We lost a few girls but a number of them are still coming out. Our first practice back went relatively well with no one shirking too much from tackles and fewer dropped balls then expected. Rucking looked a little poor but we'll work on that. I have to remember to bring my damn mouthguard next time. So we're hosting the DII PCRFU Regional Playoffs. We're playing Davis this Sat at ten on our home field so all the rookies are excited. That's it for now I suppose.